The present invention relates to hooks, and, more particularly, to hooks which are used to attach a chain to another object and have a safety latch over the hook opening which receives the chain.
Hooks have been used for years to attach chains to other objects. One particularly type of hook, sometimes referred to as an "Shook", has a primary member or "hook link" which is shaped similar to a large link of a chain but has an opening on one side. A safety latch may be used across the opening, to close the side until pressure is applied to the safety latch in the proper direction to open the S-hook. Opposite the latched side of the hook link is the closed side. Some safety latched S-hooks include a bend in the closed side. The bend places one loop of the hook link, the "chain turn", at an orientation which is angularly offset from the orientation of the opposite loop or "hook turn" of the hook link. This bend in the closed side facilitates attaching a chain to many types of objects, as the chain tends to be directed off the object at an angle compared to the hooking of the hook link to the object.
However, such safety latched hooks with bends in the closed side have not been manufactured to easily accept a chain through the latched opening. Often, a lap link or other type of relatively expensive connection apparatus is required to properly attach the chain to the hook link. Accordingly, a new design of a safety latch hook is needed which will avoid these problems and provide a safety latch hook which can easily attach to a chain without requiring a further attachment device.